Newly arrived immigrants from France (from L to R) Jonathan Arbibe from Nice and Samuel Chemama, Alexandre Pequito, Myriam Bibas and Aurelie Serraf, all of whom are from Paris, study Hebrew at Ulpan Etzion, the original residential school and absorption centre, which has taught Hebrew to tens of thousands of immigrants since 1949, in Jerusalem, January 20, 2015 (Reuters / Ronen Zvulun) / Reuters

Leading Jewish thinkers in France are warning that a doubling of anti-Semitism in the country and an alarming rise in anti-Jewish violence may lead to a new mass “exodus.”

“Jihadism and Nazism… are two faces of the same evil,”
Moshe Kantor, head of the European Jewish Congress, told a
Holocaust forum in Prague on Monday, as he warned France was
“close to” a new exodus.

Immigration into Israel has nearly doubled since the start of
2015, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research. Israel’s
summer operation in Gaza definitely didn’t help, but it is still
the old fear of a sparked hatred that haunts Europe’s Jews. The
Charlie Hebdo shootings and ensuing events, including the
hostage-taking at the Jewish store, are a testament to rising
fears.

The alarm bells are even ringing out from the top of the Israeli
government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recommending
his fellow Jews to come home to avoid anti-Semitism.

A mass “exodus” from France could see up to 600,000 Jews
affected, as it is among the European countries with the biggest
Jewish populations.

On Tuesday, Kantor’s concerns were echoed by France’s major
Jewish group, the Representative Council of French Jews (CRIF).

CRIF reports the number of anti-Semitic acts in France doubled in
2014 to 851 registered, compared to 2013’s 423. The same is true
for actual physical violence, whose incidence jumped from 105 to
241.

"These anti-Semitic acts represent 51 percent of racist acts
committed in France while Jews make up only one percent of the
French population," the group said in a statement.